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30 July 2017

I had recovered from Wednesday's marathon of presentations and only had one to do on Thursday morning.Emily Garber - LIVE! "Blogging Family History: Reading, Writing, and Sharing," 8:15-9:30 AM

This was another new preparation for me and it was carried on LIVE! This was, basically, everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-blogs (that I could fit into an hour presentation). It included the basics of starting a blog on Blogger.

Professional Genealogists Birds of a Feather

I believe this group started in Boston at the IAJGS meeting in 2013 and every year since then I have been scheduled to speak at the same time the group has met. So, imaging my surprise when I discovered I could actually attend the BOF this year!

There were surprisingly quite a few in attendance and the discussion mostly revolved around business issues such as fees, payment problems and report formats.

I am a long-term Reunion (for Mac) software user, so I wasn't expecting a bunch of new knowledge - just an opportunity to pick up a tips or two for efficient use of the program in my research. Success.

JewishGen/Jewish Genealogy Portal Luncheon: "The future of networking and connecting"

I have some mixed feelings about this new partnership, but I think JewishGen said all the right things. They took an opportunity to branch out in partnership with an already successful FaceBook page. I do not see the Jewish Genealogy Portal FaceBook page as replacing the JewishGen Discussion Group [complete disclosure: I am one of the moderators of the JGDG]. I am not sure the administrator of the Portal agrees with me on that.

I spent Thursday afternoon and Friday morning volunteering in the Resource Room. Thursday was the second day with access to the ProQuest databases. The place was packed with every computer in use.

Phyllis Kramer recruited me to handle the Resource Room. I did not say, "no." I was not, initially, looking forward to it, but Friday was actually rather pleasant. I got to help a few people find passenger manifests and a few other documents. That's always fun.Banquet

Henry Louis "Skip" Gates spoke to us about the history of his involvement in "Finding Our Roots," his PBS program. That sounds rather boring - but it wasn't. He is an engaging speaker and wove in his family history and his fascination with genetic genealogy. He also showed a promo for the new season.

IAJGS announced their awards. I think all these people/projects are incredibly well-deserving. The Awards Committee could not have made better choices! I understand that Reclaim the Records will use their award to off-set costs of going after Missouri for their intransigence in their dealings with Reclaim the Record's Freedom of Information request.

I include text from the IAJGS news release, below.

IAJGS
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Jan Meisels Allen

In recognition of many years of
service to genealogy, both Jewish and beyond, we are proud to grant the IAJGS
Lifetime Achievement Award to Jan Meisels Allen. Jan is the founding president
of the JGS of Conejo Valley, presently its programming chair, and she has been
the program chair of the JGS of Los Angeles. She has served as board member and
vice president of the IAJGS, and chairs its Public Records Access Monitoring
Committee. Jan writes almost daily posts for the IAJGS Leadership List that
keep the genealogical community well informed of current items of interest.

As conference Database Chairperson,
Jan has been responsible for the resource room at IAJGS conferences for many
years. Beyond Jewish genealogy, she has
been a regular speaker at FGS and NGS conferences, at the invitation of the German
government and US Holocaust Memorial Museum, and has spoken on records access
at European conferences. Her dedication to the cause of genealogical research
and drive to work on its behalf has a continual far reaching effect. We are
honored to name her as the recipient of this year’s award.

IAJGS
VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR

Rose Avigael Feldman

This year’s IAJGS Volunteer of the Year Award honors Rose Avigael
Feldman’s dedication, encouragement, creativity, and achievements in the world
of Jewish genealogy. Rose was an active volunteer in the organization of two
IAJGS conferences. By contributing her time and energy to a records scanning
project, documents from Israeli archives will be accessible to researchers
worldwide. Rose has been and continues to be tireless in her efforts to promote
Jewish genealogy: training volunteers for database work, writing and publishing
articles, answering search queries, lecturing, attending genealogy lectures,
and networking between people and organizations. We are grateful for her
tremendous efforts and in appreciation we recognize her contributions through
this award.

IAJGS
OUTSTANDING PROJECT

Reclaim the Records

This year we bestow the IAJGS Outstanding Project Award to Reclaim the Records.
As such we recognize the leadership of Brooke Schreier Ganz in organizing a
group of concerned individuals and advocating for governmental agencies to
release public data into the public domain. Using Freedom of Information laws (FOIL) and
Open Data initiatives, in just a short time the
organization has secured the release of thousands of vital records indices and
voters lists, with continued efforts ongoing for records throughout the U.S. This
project has had and will have an important impact in making public records
available without charge to the public at large.

Wednesday at the conference was like running a marathon. I joked with someone on Tuesday that I would need to wear sweats and running shoes on Wednesday.

I introduced Israel Pickholtz's presentation at 8:15 and then presented four talks. The last was over at 6:15. A looong day.Israel Pickholtz - "Why Did My Father Know That His Grandfather Had an Uncle Selig?" 8:15-9:30 AM

Israel specializes in addressing complex problems with, sometimes, complex solutions. Such is the case with this study. Using records from Jewish Records Indexing-Poland and DNA results, Israel took us on a wild ride though the Pickholtz clan to identify and explain why his father may have known about one particular otherwise fairly remote relative.

I had heard this talk before a couple of years ago. Hearing it again was great because I could concentrate on how Israel made the finely-tuned case. Definitely a tour de force.

Well, I will not review my own presentations. This talk covered the gamut of online offerings including podcasts, webinars, non-credit courses and virtual conferences. It may be viewed with a subscription of LIVE! One may also listen to this presentation (an all my others) if one purchases the audio recordings of conference presentations.

After a lunch break, I was back to it with a discussion of locating, losing and, then, relocating a woman named Feiga Grinfeld who had accompanied my great grandfather to the United States in November 1922. If not for her extended family members, friends, and acquaintances I would not have located her far-removed from where I would have expected her to be.

In addition to standard genealogical records, I was also able to use DNA results from numerous cousins to bolster my case for the relationahip of Feiga to my Garber family members.

I have presented this talk several times, but never before at IAJGS. I provide two examples of family lore that needs examination.

The first features 18th century characters, Marmaduke Swearingen and Shawnee Chief Blue Jacket. The questions is: are they the same person. The discussion centers on a 1994 National Genealogical Quarterly article proving the case via standard genealogical techniques. I then examine Y-DNA evidence collected and analyzed in 2006 (ancient history in genetic genealogy!).

The second case example deals with my own family mystery featuring four brothers in the Russian Empire whose surnames were purportedly changed to avoid Russian Empire military conscription.

I had to do something I know is not good form: apologize at the outset of this presentation. When I started planning this presentation back in the fall, I researched Clara Peller (f Wendy's hamburger fame) and intended to use her case study as one example among three.

But, recently, as I completed the presentation, it became clear that Peller's case was not the best example. In addition, I realized that the case I wished to present would take the entire lecture period all by itself. So, Clara wa unceremoniously dumped. Serves me right for trying to be clever with my presentation title!

I renamed the talk, "Conflict Management: Evaluating Evidence of Identity." It's not as catchy, but ... oh, well!

JewishGen 2017 Annual Meeting

After my last talk of the day, I dragged myself to my room, removed my dressy duds and took a short walk outside. True to form, my (naturally curly) hair puffed out into a halo of Florida frizz.

After a light dinner, I headed to the JewishGen Annual Meeting. Avraham Groll, Warren Blatt and Michael Tobias summarized accomplishments during the past year and discussed plans for the future. There are ongoing efforts that will result in some technological improvements during the next few years. Numerous partnerships are under negotiation. We should see many positive changes.

There were more than 1,000 active volunteers this past year.Janette Silverman, is one of the most productive, hardworking (maniac) genealogists I know. A couple of years ago, she took over JewishGen's Ukraine SIG. Among her efforts for Ukraine SIG, she spends huge amounts of her scant free-time massaging spreadsheets until they meet JewishGen's exacting standards for online sharing. I am in awe and, apparently, so are the powers that be at JewishGen. She was awarded Volunteer of the Year. Huge congratulations to someone who is hugely deserving!

Another notable announcement: JewishGen is starting the JewishGen Ignition and Signature Grants initiative to stimulate creative work that will result in additional records available to genealogists. Jewish societies and synagogues will be eligible to apply (starting August 15, 2017) for grants of up to $5,000 or up to $25,000. This is wonderful news. I already have some ideas!

Jewish Geneabloggers' Breakfast - Tuesday started at 7:15 A.M. (my fault for setting the time so early) with the Jewish Geneabloggers' breakfast. This is our fifth annual meeting at IAJGS. The first one was a dinner get-together in Boston in 2013.

We had a discussion about the pros and cons of using Blogger versus WordPress. We also encourage Barbara to just do it! - i.e., don't sweat the stuff one may change easily later. Just start writing now!

After breakfast, it was back to the cave to do final prep for my 11:15 presentation on what one should consider when nailing down the location of one's family community in Eastern Europe. This is a presentation I have given several times before - and is probably my favorite.

I did think of an innovation this year. In the past I have always had Janette Silverman introduce me and she has always stressed that people should review my presentation in the app. With that encouragement last year, I, apparently, had many more reviews than most speakers.

This year, I figured I'd do all my introductions myself. In addition, I included a slide at the end with an image of the app page and an animation showing how to access the app. People seemed to really appreciate that. Some, apparently, did not know prior to seeing my slide how to find the presentation review function.

I hope this will result in significant increase in reviews of my presentations. I do find them valuable for improving my talks.

Also, be aware, even though the conference is over, if one intended to review someone's talk and did not complete it, one may still use the app to do so. Not only the presenters, but also next year's conference planning team will appreciate your effort.Phyllis Berensen (Ukraine SIG Luncheon)- "The Trip of a Lifetime - And then Another, One Year Later"

Phyllis did a nice talk (with slides) about her two trips, in short succession, to Ukraine with Alex Dunai and her brother. The success of her first trip bred the need to do another. Made me pine to go back to Ukraine!

Alex Denysenko - "Volhynian Quiz"Alex,
a Ukrainian researcher and guide is well known in Jewish genealogical
circles. His talk centered on my pet area: Volhynia Gubernia (the
Russian Empire province of my father's family). Alex explained a bit of
the history of the area and why there are several archives one must now
search to locate records from towns in the province.

As
an example, Izaslav was the capital of the province until 1795.
Novograd-Volynsky was the administrative center until 1804. After 1804,
administration was moved to Zhitomyr.

It
may seem confusing or, perhaps, illogical. But, this is the kind of
information one must understand when planning research in the area. Rabbi Avrohom Krauss - "Charting: A Tool for Evaluation and Data Display"

I
am always interested in innovative ideas for helping us manage, analyze
and evaluate complex data. He visualized his data by placing it in
charts and color-coding. The speaker showed the successes and pitfalls of the technique.

I
have done something similar in spread-sheets: color coding like
information so it stands out from the rest. A very useful strategy.

I
was not completely convinced, however, by the example Avrohom
presented: trying to determine an exact birth date for an ancestor from a
variety of conflicting evidence in several records.

I
think, if we cannot locate a birth record, we must sometimes be
satisfied that we may never know the exact date of birth. An estimate
can be satisfactory.I
also think that if he'd used patterns indicated by birth order of
siblings, that much of this charting would have been unnecessary. Or, at
least, his first foray into the evidence would not have been, as he'd noted, so far
from the mark.

---------------

I spent the afternoon doing some prep before the onslaught of Wednesday, when I will be on my feet for four presentations.

I was not as diligent a blogger as I have been in past International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies conferences, but this year in Orlando, was, indeed, chock full of good offerings and opportunities to network.My disadvantage, in terms of blogging, was that I was responsible for six of the presentations, as well as a few other volunteer obligations. So, by the time I returned to my room each evening, blogging was pretty much the last thing on my mind.Nevertheless, I did meet with several people and attended some sessions here and there. So, here's my take.

Sunday

I had studied the schedule and identified some that I very much wanted to attend, but I had one presentation that was not completely prepared. I managed to complete my PowerPoint (phew) by Sunday evening and that freed me up for the rest of the week. But my attendance at sessions on Sunday suffered.

I did lunch with Mary-Jane Roth on the Polonne and environs project that is part of Ukraine Special Interest Group: "Acquisition and Translation of Records of Seven Town in Polonnoye, Ukraine." Images of the records have been acquired. The problem has been finding translators who are not only familiar the foreign languages, but also old script and the peculiarities of verbiage in old records. We still have some ideas on where to head with this but, it has not been easy.

I dd attend the keynote session, "Alexander Hamilton, the Jews and the American Revolution." Professor Robert Watson of Lynn University in Boca Raton, FL, is an engaging speaker and spoke on a topic of interest to many. Hamilton had an interesting and difficult early life. While not Jewish himself, he benefited from his association with Sephardic Jewish people in the community of Nevis who, in recognizing his innate brilliance and talent, took him under their wing.

Monday

Hal Bookbinder - "U.S. Immigration and Naturalization" I always enjoy Hal's presentations and, although at this point I know quite a bit about this topic, I always expect to learn something new from him. I was not as well-versed on early US naturalization law and policy, so I did enjoy that.

Throughout most of our history, naturalization could be achieved within five years of residence. Apparently, due, in part, to political conflict between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, there was a short period when the time to naturalization was substantially lengthened. The June 18, 1798 Naturalization Act, the first part of the Alien and Sedition Act, increased residency requirement to 14 years.Here's a short summary I found on Politico.

Marion Werle – “You found the Records – Now What? Records Analysis and the Jewish Genealogist”

I enjoyed Marion’s presentation. For me, it is interesting to see how different researchers approach instruction on evidence analysis and the Genealogical Proof Standard. I had a similar topic scheduled for Wednesday.

Marian presented several different record types and worked with the audience to evaluate the reliability of each based upon source type, informant and character of information provided. I was impressed.

I also think that people benefit from hearing different takes on similar topics. I do not know if many people attended both Marion's and, then, my later talk, but, if they did, they would likely come away with greater understanding.

Nolan is in charge of one of the largest and most useful searchable databases on JewishGen: the JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR). There are now 3.1 million records in the database. 500,000 include tombstone photographs. There are about 7,100 cemeteries (or cemetery plots) representing 125 countries. Unlike Find A Grave or Billion Graves, JOWBR only includes Jewish burials in Jewish and non-sectarian cemeteries.

Information comes to JOWBR from volunteers, cemetery administrators, societies and synagogues. The data comes from stones, cemetery or burial society registers, published historical material and funeral home records.

JewishGen provides formatted spreadsheets, written instructions and instructional videos explaining how one may record and donate information to the JOWBR database.

I have, thus far, recorded and donated photos and partial translations from three landsmanshaftn plots in Montefiore Cemetery in Queens, New York; one in Beth Moses Cemetery, Pinelawn, NY; one in Baker Street Cemetery outside Boston, MA; and one in South Haven, MI. For my own family, research, this has been the gift that keeps on giving. As I do more and more research, I find more links and more family. I encourage every genealogist to join the effort. Do not just record your own family. Spend a few hours and photograph entire cemetery plots. It’s a mitzvah.

Sack lunch with Sallyann Sack

Had an interesting lunch with Sallyann Sack-Pikus and several others regarding her concept for a Second Tier records project. I am honored she thought to invite me to participate.

As she stayed in an article in Avotaynu a few months ago, she is interested in pursuing records beyond the usual ones (i.e., vital records and revision lists) most Special Interest Groups collect. There are records such as notary records and land records in Eastern European archives that, while not identified as principally Jewish, are likely to yield many records regarding Jewish people. Identifying, collecting and translating these types of records would be a complex undertaking and will require quite a bit of coordination with a variety of groups currently working in the area.

24 July 2017

We have been in Orlando, Florida for a few days at the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies conferencing. Here are the bloggers who have posted thus far. Please check back daily. I will be updating the list as new blogs are posted.Lara Diamond - Lara's Jewnealogy"IAJGS2017 Coming up!" "IAJGS2017, Day 1" "IAJGS Conference, Days 2-3"

18 July 2017

Back in November 2016 I researched and documented Zalman and Rachel Rochman, immigrants from Labun whose graves are in one of the First Lubiner Progressive Benevolent Association plots in Montefiore Cemetery. At the time, I was able to locate records for their two sons, Charles Rochman and Aaron Rockman. I was not, however, able to find any records for their two daughters, Ronia and Mindla, who had immigrated with their mother.[1]

Well, I've located Ronia. In the United States, she became Rose Rochman and married Sam Kanchich, who became Sam Cantor.

CANTOR

Ronia daughter of Zalman

ROSE

BELOVED WIFE

MOTHER

GRANDMOTHER

JAN. 5,1903

DEC. 25, 1981

Yisrael son of Moshe Zav

SAMUEL

BELOVED HUSBAND

FATHER

GRANDFATHER

SEPT. 30, 1899

JAN. 20, 1978

TOGETHER IN LIFE, TOGETHER IN DEATH

The key to determining Rose Cantor's maiden name was linking her death records in the "California, Death Index, 1940-1997," database on Ancestry and her gravestone. The database included her birth (although identified as 1904, not 1903) and death date and her father's surname.[2] And, of course, her gravestone indicated that her father's name was Zalman. Further research and census and naturalization records confirmed earlier evidence.

Nineteen year old Ronia Rojchmann arrived in New York Harbor on the S.S. Mount Carroll on 1 November 1921 with her mother, Ruchla (Rachel), and her siblings, Szika (Charles), Aron (Aaron), and Mindla. Ruchla, her husband Zalman, and all the children were born in Labun.Srul Kancrik (Samuel Cantor) arrived in New York on 22 February 1921.[3] He'd been born in and resided in what appears to have been Sudilkov [typed as "Serdylkow" on his manifest]. Sudilkov is 24 kilometers northeast of Labun. So, it is possible that he and Ronia knew each other before emigration.

11 July 2017

A couple of weeks ago, I profiled Philip Goldberg's parents, Bernard and Lottie Goldberg, who are interred in one of the First Lubiner Progressive Benevolent Association plots at Montefiore Cemetery, Queens, NY.

Philip, born in Lubin/Labun, Russian Empire (today, Yurovshchina, Ukraine) arrived in Boston on the S.S. Manchuria with his mother, Zlate, and sisters Chaika, Minna and Sonja on 21 February 1921.[1] Philip's and his wife Minnie's graves are in the association plot at Beth Moses Cemetery in Pinelawn, NY.

FATHER

Pesach son of Avraham

PHILIP

GOLDBERG

DEVOTED AND GIVING

"HIS SPIRIT OF GOOD LIVES"

FEB. 4, 1904

JUNE 24, 1994

-------------------------

MOTHER

Minna daughter of Binyamin

MINNIE "KOPELOV"

GOLDBERG

SHE WAS BEAUTIFUL AND

BRIGHT, YET SO SAD

BE AT PEACE, AT LAST

SEPT. 15, 1906 - NOV. 7, 1995

In June 1925, Philip, an unmarried glazier, lived with his mother, Lottie; brother, Herman; and sister Sylvia at 95 Ridge Street in Manhattan.[2] Philip and his family had been in the United States four years. Philip was not yet a citizen.

In April 1930, Philip and his same family members resided at 2067 Harrison Avenue in the Bronx.[3] In addition, Philip's elder sister, Ida, her husband Herman Dolgin and their daughter, Bernice, lived in the same apartment. Philip, a glazier working at a glass store, was still an alien. Minnie Kopelov naturalized on 3 September 1931.[4] She was single, working as a milliner and had immigrated on the S.S. Berengaria, landing in New York with her sister Roza on 2 November 1923.[5] She had been born in Warsaw.

According to Philip's naturalization papers, filed on 8 July 1937, he and Minnie married in Monticello, Sullivan County, New York on 7 July 1936.[6]

By the April 1940 U.S. census, Philip and Minnie had a 2 year old daughter, Rena.[7] They lived in an apartment at 69 Pinehurst Avenue, New York, New York. Philip owned a wholesale glass business.

According to their Social Security Death Index records, the couple's last residence was in Long Beach, Long Island, New York.[8]

Both Philip and Minnie Goldberg's graves are located in Block 24, Maccabee Road within the First Lubiner Progressive Benevolent Association plot in Beth Moses Cemetery, Pinelawn, New York.